1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a video display conveying varying visual information to a user, and more particularly to a video display housing system adaptable for a plurality of differently sized video displays.
2. Related Art
A video display conveys varying visual information to a user. One example of a video display is a cathode ray tube. When the cathode ray tube is properly connected to a host computer, the cathode ray tube can convey varying visual information to a user. Typically, a cathode ray tube will be contained in a housing. The housing will usually include a printed circuit board and also various connectors.
The host computer will transmit video signals to the cathode ray tube through a cable connected between the host computer and the cathode ray tube. The cable is usually not directly attached to the cathode ray tube. Rather, the cable is attached to a connector on the exterior of the housing which contains the cathode ray tube. The video signals are transmitted from the host computer to the printed circuit board mounted within the housing. Then the video signals are processed by the printed circuit board. After that, the processed video signals are transmitted from the printed circuit board to the cathode ray tube. Then the cathode ray tube conveys information corresponding to the video signals to the user.
There are several different types of video displays including, but not limited to, the cathode ray tube already mentioned above, a liquid crystal display, a field emission display, a gas-plasma display, a light emitting diode display, and an electro-luminescent display. Each of the video displays typically requires a housing.
The liquid crystal display, included in the list of video displays shown above, typically comprises a liquid crystal display panel on which an image is represented by means of an externally input video signal. The liquid crystal display panel is usually contained within a housing. The housing is usually connected to and supported by a stand. Housing apparatuses which house liquid crystal display panels and also stand devices which support those housing apparatuses are described in U.S. Ser. No. 08/965,642 and U.S. Ser. No. 08/965,644, here incorporated by reference.
Liquid crystal display panels are available in a variety of different sizes. I have found that a first liquid crystal display panel of a particular size and a second liquid crystal display panel of a different size will conventionally require two completely different housings, due to the difference in the size of the two liquid crystal display panels. In other words, the first liquid crystal display panel will require a first front case of a first size and a first rear case of a first size, forming the housing of the first liquid crystal display panel. The second liquid crystal display panel will require a second front case of a second size and a second rear case of a second size, forming the housing of the second liquid crystal display panel.
This is true for housings of other types of video displays also. In other words, a first video display of a particular size and a second video display of a different size will conventionally require two completely different housings, due to the difference in the size of the two video displays, as explained in detail pertaining to an example of two liquid crystal display panel housings. It can be expensive to design, manufacture, test, procure, and inventory a variety of differently sized housings for differently sized video displays.
Examples of housing methods and examples of housing devices are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,712 for Sterile Encapsulated Operating Room Video Monitor And Video Monitor Support Device issued to Adair, U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,020 for Underwater Camera Housing Having Interchangeable Back Members to Accept Still and Video Cameras issued to Hopmeyer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,751 for Liquid Crystal Display Assembly Employing Front Bezel, Frame Holding Liquid Crystal Cell Attached To Bezel, and Light Source And Back Plate Attached To Bezel issued to Lewis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,399 for Liquid Crystal Display Apparatus Having A Frame Around Periphery And Bottom And Extending Above Both Polarizers issued to Koike; U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,160 for Display Means For Apparatus With Transparent Panel Fixed To LCD Panel Via Elastic Packing With Ridges In ZigZag Pattern issued to Takahashi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,227 for Liquid Crystal Display Mounting Structure issued to Ichikawa et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,486 for Device For Holding Liquid Crystal Display Panel issued to Yamazaki et al.
There can be high costs associated with the design, manufacture, testing, procuring, and inventorying of a variety of differently sized housings corresponding to differently sized video displays. Thus, although presently there do exist housing methods and housing devices, I discovered that it would be desirable to develop an improved and enhanced housing system for video displays.